Roxie nodded inside. She was right; he was hooked. Line and sinker hooked. Oh Lord, thank you for answering another of my many prayers. In church that morning, the sermon had been on gratitude. She felt it overflowing and kissing everyone around her.

Now she was glad she had decided to wear a floral summer dress with a cropped pink crocheted jacket and floppy straw hat. Since the top was down on the convertible, she picked up her hat from the backseat, grabbed the bottle of wine in a hand-painted sleeve, and came around the car.

“Good to see you, Nate.”

“Don’t you look lovely?” He shook her hand and tucked it under his arm. “Dad is out on the deck. He says we should not waste such a glorious day inside.”

“Are you expecting a lot of people?”

“Nope, just us and Mom might be coming. Her house is right up the road.” At the look of confusion on her face, he added, “They were divorced when I was in grade school and, as soon as they weren’t living together, got along famously. Made it a lot easier on us kids.”

“There are four of you, right?”

“No, three. Dad oversees the home store with my cousin growing up into managership there.”

Roxie pointed. “Oh, that crabapple tree is stunning. You have some landscaper.”

“Actually, Dad laid out all the plans, working on a different section each year. We were a lot of the slave labor. He says gardening is his relaxation, as is the sailboat. Do you two go sailing?”

Loren shook her head. “I’ve been out once or twice. My dad used to have a boat but with a motor, not a sail. When he died, Mom sold the boat, since none of us were really interested in it.”

“That must have been rough.”

As they came around the house, Lake Winnebago glittered in all its blue glory before them. Sails dotted the lake, along with sailboarders in wet suits, because the water was still icy cold from winter.

Roxie paused and caught her breath. “What a view.”

“I was hoping for a day like this. Hey, Dad.”

The man on deck, wearing green shorts and a lighter green T-shirt with deck shoes, waved and came down the four stairs to the ground level. “Glad you could make it.”

“Roxie, this is my father, Rich Owens. Dad, Roxie Gilburn and her daughter, Loren.”

“Good to meet you. You sold a house for a friend of mine and he raved about what a professional job you did. Got him more money than he had hoped too, which made everyone happy, I’m sure.”